If the lights at Westlake Drive and Cedar Street are gone, why does Loop 360 still feel like a construction zone? The new mainlanes have been open for nearly eight weeks now. TxDOT opened them on Aug. 30, 2026, and Loop 360 traffic now drops under both cross streets. But the road it opened is a temporary setup. You get one lane in each direction, a few turns TxDOT itself calls temporary, and three of the project's five phases still marked ongoing on the TxDOT project page.
So the routine many drivers have just learned will change again. The useful questions are which parts will change, and what the finished road is supposed to look like.
What opened on Aug. 30 is the temporary layout
The project's goal was always to take the traffic signals off the Loop 360 mainlanes at Westlake Drive and Cedar Street and run the highway under both cross streets. That part now works. Here's how the current setup runs, per TxDOT:
- Through traffic stays in the left lane to bypass the Westlake Drive and Cedar Street signals.
- Drivers headed to either cross street exit right.
- Non-signalized U-turns on the new Westlake Drive bridge give access to both northbound and southbound Loop 360.
KXAN reported two days before the opening that, according to a TxDOT press release, connector roads would keep serving both cross streets and the southbound U-turn south of Bold Ruler Way would stay open.
The key detail is the lane count. A single mainlane in each direction gets rid of the stop-and-go at two signals. It isn't the finished cross-section. TxDOT's phase list says both mainlanes still have to be completed.
Which pieces TxDOT has already called temporary
In February 2025, TxDOT published a community Q&A for this project. Some of its answers describe detour setups that no longer exist. Others describe the final design, and those still tell you which parts of today's drive will change.
| Element | What the Q&A says about it |
|---|---|
| Left-turn exit from northbound Loop 360 to Cedar Street | Part of the temporary layout. In the final design, the Cedar left-turn lanes will be at grade and reached from the connector roads. |
| Tight right turn from Westlake Drive to northbound Loop 360 | Part of the temporary layout. TxDOT said it would look at possible improvements. |
| Shared-use paths along the mainlanes | 10 feet wide, unstriped, generally 5 feet from the curb and gutter, wide enough for cyclists and pedestrians at the same time |
| Paths across the cross streets | Protected east-west shared-use paths on both the Westlake Drive and Cedar Street bridges |
| Pennybacker Bridge | No plans to widen or change it beyond maintenance |
TxDOT labeled two turns temporary more than a year before the mainlanes opened, the narrow Cedar exit and the tight Westlake on-ramp turn. TxDOT's February 2025 community-update presentation also expected the project to finish by mid-2026. TxDOT's current schedule has moved that to late 2026, weather permitting.
The bridge row sets a limit. The new underpasses and paths stop at the river. The Pennybacker Bridge stays as it is.
What still has to happen before the permanent layout
Construction started in June 2022. Contractor Copasa Group is working through five phases, and TxDOT's current status for each is:
- Phase 1, complete. Set up the work zone and build waterlines.
- Phase 2, ongoing. Build new northbound and southbound connector roads, drainage systems and shared-use paths.
- Phase 3, ongoing. Build the Westlake Drive bridge and start the northbound and southbound mainlanes.
- Phase 4, ongoing. Build the Cedar Street bridge and finish the northbound and southbound mainlanes.
- Phase 5. Final paving and striping, then the switch to permanent traffic patterns.
Both bridges now carry traffic over the highway, but the phases that build them are still listed as unfinished. That's because each phase also includes finishing the mainlanes underneath. Phase 5 is when the road changes for drivers again. TxDOT hasn't posted a date for the second mainlane in each direction or for the paths opening. The only schedule it gives is late 2026, weather permitting.
Until then, work continues on the mainlanes between Bold Ruler Way and the Pennybacker Bridge. Excavation runs weekdays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and hauling happens at night. Overnight lane closures come in short blocks. The most recent posted block put alternating single-lane closures on both connector roads between the Pennybacker Bridge and the Shell Refuel station, Oct. 11 through Oct. 15, from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. Those dates have passed. The TxDOT project page is where the next set will show up.
Community Impact's Oct. 12 roundup puts the project at $72.1 million, paid for by TxDOT and the City of Austin's 2016 mobility bond, on a 2022 to 2026 timeline.
The places you reach through this stretch
For many drivers, this part of Loop 360 is how they get to errands rather than through traffic. Davenport Village at 3801 N. Capital of Texas Hwy. sits beside the work zone. Its owner describes the center as serving Davenport Ranch, Westlake, Rob Roy and Barton Creek, and lists Austin Country Club, St. Stephen's Episcopal School and the Pennybacker Bridge as nearby. Long-standing tenants include Maudie's Milagro, Starbucks, Club Champion and Salons by JC. The newest name there is Back Nine. Community Impact reported that the indoor golf simulator opened in April in Suite D-160.
Getting into the center is where the temporary layout matters most. Under the current setup, reaching a cross-street destination means exiting right onto a connector road. Doubling back means using the U-turns on the Westlake Drive bridge. When phase 5 moves traffic to permanent patterns, the connector-road access to Cedar Street is one of the pieces the 2025 Q&A says will change.
Across the river, the Pennybacker overlook still works the way it always has. Visit Austin's guide describes roadside parking on the west side of Loop 360, north of the bridge, and a short, rocky hike up to the view. The project doesn't touch the bridge, so the classic photo of it won't change.
North of the bridge, the next project has already started
Once Westlake Drive and Cedar Street are finished, Loop 360 still won't be signal-free all the way through. The project is one piece of TxDOT's 14-mile Loop 360 overhaul under its Texas Clear Lanes program. The next one is already underway. TxDOT broke ground on the Courtyard Drive/RM 2222 project on April 29. It's a $68.4 million job in four phases, scheduled for 2026 through 2029. It will build an overpass at Courtyard Drive, turn the RM 2222 interchange into a diverging diamond, and add shared-use paths and sidewalks.
The TxDOT Courtyard/RM 2222 page currently says there are no lane closures, and it expects completion in late 2029. It also shows revised ramp patterns at RM 2222. The eastbound RM 2222 entrance to southbound Loop 360 closes, and the northbound Loop 360 exit to RM 2222 gets separate left-turn-only, left-or-straight and right-turn-only lanes.
Three more Loop 360 projects are listed with no schedule. MoPac to RM 2244 would replace signals with an overpass at Walsh Tarlton Lane and an overpass or underpass at Lost Creek Boulevard and Westbank Drive. RM 2244 would get intersection improvements, possibly a diverging diamond. Lakewood Drive/Spicewood Springs Road was environmentally cleared in summer 2023. Community Impact lists the timeline, cost and funding source for all three as to be determined. For the first two, construction depends on funding. For Lakewood/Spicewood Springs, it depends on funding but could start in 2029.
Put together, a drive from Westlake toward Northwest Austin on Loop 360 will pass at least one active work zone through 2029. The Westlake Drive and Cedar Street segment is the first to reach its permanent layout, and it isn't there yet.
Road projects like this change how a home is reached day to day, and the people who use that access are the first to notice. If you're in Westlake or Barton Creek and want to talk through what the finished Loop 360 could mean for your home's access, location or timing, Sharon Murray is glad to share what she's seeing along the corridor. Let's Connect.
